QATAR AIRWAYS DOHA TO COLOMBO; EXCELLENCE IN THE AIR

I barely made the connection to my flight to Doha from Philadelphia, as the weather pattern in Miami delayed our flight out for about four hours.

The Philadelphia to Doha flight was nothing out of the ordinary.

I was eager to get on the flight to Colombo, however tired I was. The shower at Al Mourjan Lounge at Doha had rejuvenated me a little bit.

As I entered the cabin the chirpy welcome of the Cabin Senior assured me of a pleasant flight.

The nearly five hour flight went quickly enough and I got to know the individual crew members, from Thailand, Philippines, India and Japan.

Thank you once again.. QR

My next few long haul flights would be 

Colombo to Hambug via istanbul   Turkish Airlines

Paris to Miami                                       American Airlines

Miami to Barcelona                             American Airlines

Tel Aviv to Doha and then on to Miami      Qatar Airways

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, ARROGANCE AND ITS TOTAL DOMINANCE

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, ARROGANCE AND ITS TOTAL DOMINANCE

Of the 6000 odd languages in the world, a small minority of people, many of which do not have written forms, speak the majority of these languages and many exist only in oral form.

French was considered to the UNIVERSAL language, but something happened after the end of the World War II and the beginning of the 21^st Century.  With the rise of American super power in the world scene, the English language also rose, from a dominant language to a “hypercentral” (according to the Dutch Sociologist Abram de Swaan).

De Swaan divides languages into four categories. Lowest on the pyramid are the “peripheral languages”, which make up 98% of all languages, but are spoken by less than 10% of mankind. These are largely oral, and rarely have any kind of official status. Next are the “central languages”, though a more apt term might be “national languages”. These are written, are taught in schools, and each has a territory to call its own: Lithuania for Lithuanian, North and South Korea for Korean, Paraguay for Guarani, and so on.

Following these are the 12 “supercentral languages”: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Hindi, Japanese, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swahili – each of which (except for Swahili) boast 100 million speakers or more. These are languages you can travel with. They connect people across nations. They are commonly spoken as second languages, often (but not exclusively) as a result of their parent nation’s colonial past.

Then, finally, we come to the top of the pyramid, to the languages that connect the supercentral ones. There is only one: English, which De Swaan calls “the hypercentral language that holds the entire world language system together”.

The above from an article published in The Guardian UK.

I have observed a phenomenon coinciding with my extensive travels in Asia starting 2001. English acquired a status, people who could only utter a few words; “assumed” they could speak English and this began spreading through the educational systems in China and India as well as other South East Asian countries. In S Korea, English became a requirement for jobs that needed no language diversification. Parents began looking for ways to give their children an English education and accent. A self imposed shame of not being able to communicate in English began to spread and decrease the self esteem of people who did not need English in their every day lives.

English schools and charlatan teachers and operators flourished. The only requirement to teach English in many of the Asian countries was that you be European from an English speaking country. Thus a new generation of English educated people began appearing who did not have a good comprehension of written or spoken language but who thought they could speak it well.

In Asia, the best level of English is in India, even though only a fraction of the population speaks it well. I was watching a video by Sadhguru where he was answering a young woman from the West who wanted to know how the “problem” of India could be fixed. Sadhguru had to remind her that during the millennial existence of the culture of India (India as a country is an idea), it was outsiders who dictate the norms, the last ones being the British who laid out their measurements. English in a way has made Asians feel less of themselves because failure to excel in this language is seen as a defect.

English destroys everything in its path, in Europe an average person can communicate well in English (with the notable exception of France in Western Europe), English is seen not as a status symbol of the oppressed or a sign of inferiority complex but a method of communication in this modern times while maintaining the national identity of the local language. I cannot imagine Hindi or Chinese or Arabic becoming a Universal language, but 5 per cent of the billion strong Indians speak English with excellent proficiency and in fact the major literary output from India is in English. The influence of English is such that the characters appearing in literature from India begin to loose their “Indian-ness” and like the many million emigrants from that continent, has become presentable in a polished fashion to the West. 44 million Chinese can communicate in English to varying levels of proficiency. In South East Asia, mainly the minority populations in Malaysia and Singapore, speak the best English, betraying their British colonial past, rather than Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia where the erstwhile French language hegemony is just a memory, 

I work with the Indigenous people and I lament the loss of their languages. I also find it a shame that Mexican immigrants to USA to places like Texas are ashamed to speak their native tongue. No self respecting Cuban would refuse to speak the Spanish language, even if they speak English or another language fluently. (They were never fond of speaking Russian!).

English does not force you to think in one way or another, as the great linguistic controversy of last century contended, but I see English forcing an inferiority complex to the immigrants and also the upwardly mobile in countries such as India and China, perhaps Korea as well.

Yet another fallacy I encounter in my travels is the notion that if one speaks English, an an Asian believes, he or she can be considered a “western” person. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have met people who have lived in the west for 15-20 years but who have no understanding of the philosophical foundations of the western ways of thinking.

I also have noticed that this unrelenting march of English has made the speakers of the language more arrogant, less tolerant of other language speakers. I am in Sri Lanka, and I have to remind myself that for majority of the people do carry on with their daily lives without proficiency in English language.

It is good to remind oneself of this..

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE MONTH OF AUGUST FOR TRAVEL

Today is 29th July 2018 and I am in Bentota, Sri Lanka. This month has been less than auspicious for travel with some misplaced trust and loss of innocence. 
August would begin in Europe, with innocent pleasures which has no equal, then on to my Little Island to congratulate a slew of colleagues who have achieved academic distinction during my short stay away from my Isla Rica.. Back to the Indians and back to Europe... and Israel.

One lesson learned from the frustration of travel in July, always be faithful to the country and friends that you love, don't be lured away by promises and sweetness that traps you.
I really should have been in Cuba rather than going to Colombia. Cuba can give a warmth and genuine friendship which few other countries can give.

(The Chauffeur of La Habana)

AMAZING SPIRIT WORLD OF AMAZONIA

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AMAZING SPIRIT WORLD OF AMAZONIA

READING YUVAL NOAH HARARI IN AMAZONIA

Because of my long association with traditional tribes, some of their belief systems have been passed on to me.

I am Jewish, very cognizant of the history of my people, fond of the Talmudic thinking. Yogic philosophy of Patanjali and the lived in philosophy of Buddha in various Buddhist countries (mainly in Myanmar) has also influenced me.

It may thus seem incongruous that I am reading SAPIENS by Yuval Noah Harari, a professor from Jerusalem, while resting comfortably at my favourite hotel in Leticia in the Colombian Amazon surrounded by friends and visitors from the Ticuna tribe.

Harari elegantly argues about social construction. As an Anthropologist and a student of the French Philosopher Jacques Derrida (Jewish, born in Algeria), I have learned the analytic tools of de-construction.

But when is de-construction necessary? when words have been misunderstood? (Context or lack of linguistic ability) or the gullibility of the believer? (Usually a falsehood believed over and over again to increase self-confidence, e.g.: I am proud of to have done such and such or I believe in miracles).

When events unfold which has no explanation other than my individual explanatory model (influenced by American Indians, among others), there is no de-construction is necessary.

I will give you an example that happened in less than 24 hours in the Spirit World of Amazonia. As Indians would say, Mi ta ku ye Oyasin , All are Related.

Yesterday I said good-bye to a recent acquaintance, felt a little sad at the loss and walked towards the center of town.

Not even five minutes had passed when I received a message from the Last Jew of Cochin, in Kerala, Elias.

It said:

Powerful Tefila for today!

Read this sentence carefully.

When Hashem takes something from your grasp. He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better. Concentrate on this sentence.

"The will of Hashem will never take you where the Grace of Hashem will not protect you."

I was flabbergasted, just five minutes earlier I had felt a loss, then this Tefila arrives.

More than a coincidence.

It did not stop there

An email from a friend in Yangon. Many years ago I had set her up in a Travel Agency and was able to help her and about six other young women, so that they can independently work. (Office work, travel related work). It must have been at least 6 years since she last wrote.

Hello,
How’s everything and I just remember about you and just want to get in touch with you again.
Are you visiting Myanmar in these years?
If you are still using the email, please kindly reply me.

Why did she write today?

I was feeling happier by the minute and the telephone rings, it is my closest friend in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a psychiatrist by training, with whom I have a very good relationship. As usual we had a good conversation, we talked about the de-construction of the ordinary, the fear of the conventional people about being alive.

As the day progressed, I was convinced that the Spirits/forces were protecting me from evil intentions and that they were bringing in various gifts.

Why should a Chinese woman in her thirties, a business woman, fluent in French but less so in England, Today, apologizing the long delay and asking me whether we could speak to each other on Skype?

Why Today?

By the time night time arrived, my good friend from Ticuna Tribe, called and made sure that I would be at the wharf at 9 15 am to welcome her. We spent a lovely day together, she explained to me the various plants, their local names and uses and what they meant to her tribe. Harmony in life is what they cherish.

I have always maintained that the if you keep your mind full of pure intention, (not full of agenda of your desires), those who try to hurt you, as Ticuna said, trying to destroy your happiness because they are not, would only suffer, for many moons to come.

From the very beginning they have taught me, try to be good each and every day, don’t rest on your laurels on what you have done or accomplished. Your great reward or punishment is that You have to live the person you have become..

Cherish the moment

Very grateful to the Spirits of the Amazonia.

A VISIT TO A MOSLEM FAMILY IN SOUTHERN SRI LANKA

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 A VISIT TO A MOSLEM FAMILY IN SOUTHERN SRI LANKA

I can’t remember how long I have been loyal to Qatar Airways?

But the new Hamad international had not opened and the old airport and the lounges were organized at different levels. A Parsee traveller to Bombay was sitting with me sharing a snack when a pleasant young man introduced himself. He was from Sri Lanka. 

I was on my way to Jakarta to visit Pak Joe whom I had recently met on a flight who was to become a good friend later. On my return journey through Doha, once again I ran into my friend from Sri Lanka. Our friendship grew over the years and we kept up a correspondence.

I had a trip booked on Cochin this week, on Qatar Airways of course. My friends in Cochin advised me not to come as the weather was chaotic and many of the roads under water, thus would make my journey less than palatable. As if decreed elsewhere, I received an enquiry from my Sri Lankan friend wondering where in the world I was and when I explained my quandry; he helped me organize a sojourn in Sri Lanka. A Car, A hotel and some sight seeing tips all arrived quickly.

Thus I find myself in a hotel, in the Asian sense of the word, large space with attached bathroom, with air conditioning, a restaurant attached. The view of the large Madhu River is very soothing and I have ensconced myself to recuperate from other travels.

The driver assigned to me is a childhood friend of his and today the driver suggested that we drop by the house of my Sri Lankan friend whom I had met many years ago, while in transit at the Doha International Airport.

In many parts of South Asia, the magnanimity of the employment in the Gulf States is easily visible. Old villages remain the same, but interspersed with some opulence, by their standards, usually in the ornamental gates or the car or motorcycle parked outside. Kerala in India is well known since at least half of their able bodied youth are employed in the Gulf countries, in jobs which require very little outside expenditure (the employers  are very generous with their benefits to their workers) and they remit their earnings to their families in their ancestral villages.

These are humble people with no great pretensions, salt of the earth, who express their genuine pleasures and happiness. Wife and two children of my friend, with her parents received me in their airy home.

I could see from their faces that they were genuinely pleased to see a friend of the star of the house, who is away working  and makes sure that their future is secure.

The communication was a little difficult. My driver was a childhood friend of my  friend, and I could see his reluctance in translating from Tamil to English and vice versa.

They belong to an interesting ethnic group, generally referred to as Muslims, distinct from Muslim traders from India or Tamil speakers of Muslim faith in the north who can trace their ancestry to Tamil Nadu. Like all converted people professing Islamic faith, they like to link their origin to the Original Muslims, the Arabs. I hear this often in Malacca that it was the Arabs that brought Islam to what is now Malaysia that was founded by a Hindu Prince from Majapahit in Sumatra.

The similarities in their thinking and food and aspirations to the Muslims of Malabar Coast are striking and I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a historic connection. The Malabar Muslims and Moplahs have Arab connections, at least in trade if not in blood and I would expect the Sri Lankan Muslims to be something similar.

My friend’s family prepared me the milky tea chai that spread from the South India to Malaysia as Teh Tahrek. The chai offered tasted very similar to the Princess street chai stalls in Fort Cochin!

The next day I was going to Galle Fort but they insisted that I come to their house on my return for a typical Sri Lankan Muslim food. I told them not to prepare anything elaborate.

(this is what they prepared)

I felt very gratified with this piece of human contact. An innocent encounter in 2014, I think at an International Airline Lounge has blossomed into a friendship and we have carved each other into the memories… for years to come, Inshallah!